BGE plans new roadwork, inspections after underground fire in Downtown Baltimore

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore City Mayor's Office met with multiple city agencies along with utility, phone and cable companies in a private meeting to discuss the recent underground fire on North Charles Street last month.

The fire prompted widespread power outages and road closures. Now city officials are working to determine the next steps.

BGE's roadwork plan

A spokesperson with Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) said crews will return to Charles Street with plans to splice cables at manholes on Charles and Saratoga and Charles and Mulberry Street.

BGE will also conduct proactive manhole inspections on the 200, 300, & 400 blocks of Charles St, including cable condition and thermography assessments. What's found there could lead to more work and traffic impacts.

BGE Conduit and its contractors will be returning within approximately 30 days to perform additional duct inspection work, which will require a lane closure in the intersection of N Charles St and E Saratoga St.

Local businesses react

Some North Charles business owners said their shops were hit hard the day of the fire and days later with crews closing off a lane of traffic on the downtown street.

The morning of September 29, Shanea Shay, the owner of Krazy Sweet Café, recalls hearing a loud boom while cleaning up her shop.

"I was like okay great," Shay said. "At least we're not out of power. So after cleaning, I left."

However later, she learned the power not only went out at her business but at many other buildings on North Charles Street, stemming from the underground fire that morning.

Over at Darker Than Blue Grille, Owner Casey Jenkins said that fire impacted what is normally a busy day at his restaurant.

"Loss of revenue," he said. "Of course, my servers lost wages, loss of product. So, it was a substantial loss for a micro business like us."

Similar fires sparked on Charles Street earlier this year. Now, several city agencies are looking for solutions following the September fire.

The Mayor's Office told WJZ, they planned a private meeting Friday with utility, phone, and cable companies to discuss what they've learned so far. Though, Jenkins says he's hesitant about this private session.

"The mayor, city administrator, council people need to take a more proactive approach on energy on infrastructure," he said.

Shay says she's glad to see work being put in on the road. Though, she's unsure if this will prevent similar fires from happening again.

"This is not going to be the last time, to be realistic, that this is ever going to happen again," Shay said. "Let's be real, again the structures down here are really old."

The Mayor's Office said they plan to hold a public meeting soon. Though, a date for a future meeting hasn't been set yet. When asked if he would attend a public meeting, Jenkins said he was not interested.

"I'm done," he said. "I've attended enough. The last meeting the city administrator and the Downtown Partnership did was completely unorganized. They had no answers for us."

As Jenkins and Shay work to make up for lost revenue, they ask residents and visitors to support local businesses downtown.

"We still have rent to pay," Shay said. "We still have businesses to run. So when we're not open or when we can be open and customers still can't get to our locations, it is very impactful to our businesses."